Man! I just spent 20 minutes typing out why and what I needed and wanted. But it wouldn't let me post, so I tried the above post after erasing it all. Aghhh. Anyways I want to learn the fundamentals, just bought the heavy bag n want to learn everything. Where to start. How to start. I'm interested. For my daughter and I, I thank you ahead of time. If you already have info put together, and it would e easier to email me let me know. Fundamentals. It's important to me. I wanna learn what a 1-2-1-3-2 is...if its anything at all. Jab, jab...muscle memory. Ill put in the work...promise.

Subject: Fundamentals of Boxing (VERY LONG!)From: boxingSHK Date: 03-Oct-00 | 09:48 AMI put together this last night. Kind of like my Jerry Maguire boxing manifesto. LOL. There are like 16 different items that I probably could've broke up into single threads, but I didn't really feel like it. So here it is. A basic writeup on boxing techniques. Some of the stuff is pretty basic, and some of it I've already talked about, but hopefully some people can get something out of it. I could've put more and more, but I've got some fights to go to tonight, so I need to get some sleep. Hope you enjoy.

Developing a good stance is the first thing that a beginning fighter should be taught. Everything else that he or she does will be affected by their stance. It is very hard to have speed, accuracy, or power if you do not have a proper stance. For an orthodox fighter (right handed), your left foot should be in front. Probably 90% of beginning right handed boxers try to start off with their right foot and hand in front. Usually this is because their left side is undeveloped. This is wrong, and if you are a beginning boxer, you are inhibiting the development of your left hand, by relying on your right. It feels awkward at first, but put trust in the fact that you will soon be hitting with equal power with both hands. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart. Any wider and you are inhibiting your mobility. Any closer together, and you run the risk of not having a good base. Your left shoulder should be inward. This puts an extra half a foot on the length of your jab. Your right hand should be up, with your thumb touching your ear. Your right elbow should be held in tight, to protect you from bodypunches. Your left hand should be out about eight inches from your face and up about as high as your nose. This makes it easier to block right hands, and to also throw lead hooks. Your chin should be tucked in, with your eyes up. Having your chin down does quite a few things. Obviously, it protects your chin, keeping it out of the way of punches, but having it down also protects your throat. Anyone who has ever been hit with a punch to the throat will attest to how dangerous it is. Make sure your eyes are up, and not looking downward! The hardest punches to block are the ones that you can't see. I don't believe in focusing on a specific area. Just make sure your eyes are up and aware. Your legs should be bent. A boxer that is standing straight up is very easy to push around. It's almost like you're starting to sit down, but not quite. Remember that your entire body should be nice and relaxed. Being tense does two things. It wears you out faster, and it makes you slower. Having a good stance is so, so important. Everything else works off of it. A lot of the times, when a fighter gets knocked down, it has nothing to do with his ability to take a punch. It has to do with him being off balance! Having a good stance is the beginning to have good balance.

Subject: RE: INFOFrom: boxingSHK Date: 03-Oct-00 | 09:51 AMJAB

Your jab is your most important and effective weapon in a match. It is of equal value both defensively and offensively. Fights can be won and lost with jabs alone. A good motion to think about when jabbing is reaching out and grabbing something. Remember to stay totally relaxed. If you are tight, your jab will be much slower. Not every jab has to be hard, but do not throw it lazily! It's not a knockout punch, but it can stop your opponent dead in his tracks. There are two jabs that I'd like to describe. The first one is the attack jab. In this type of jab, you are going forward, stepping in. This type of jab is an offensive movement. The next type of jab I want to describe is the come around jab. For this, you jab, and move to your left. This is more of a defensive movement. You can also move to your right, but it's much easier for an orthodox fighter to move to his left. You want to avoid jabbing and moving straight back, because eventually, you're going to move yourself straight to the ropes. It is much better to jab and move to the side. Remember to double and triple up on your jabs. This makes it much harder for your opponent to counter with right hands. If you throw single jabs, with nothing after them, you're eventually going to start getting hit with counter rights. Bring your left hand back immediately after jabbing. Remember that when you're fighting someone who is better, or you don't know what to do in a fight, the best thing to do is to resort to your jab.

Subject: RE: INFOFrom: boxingSHK Date: 03-Oct-00 | 09:52 AMRIGHT HAND

When facing a good fighter, the right hand is one of the harder punches to get in. It comes from the farther away than any of your other punches, which makes it easier to see and block. This is not to say that it is not an effective punch, because it is, but relying on a big right hand isn't the wisest thing to do when facing an experienced fighter. The best time to throw a right hand is immediately after jabbing. Your left shoulder is inward, with your left hand extended. While you are pulling your jab back. Turn your hips inward, while turning your right foot inward, at the same time; throw a straight punch with your right hand. Using your legs, hips, and feet makes a huge difference in the power of your right hand. A right hand thrown only using your arms and upper body has about half the power of a right hand thrown using your entire body. An overhand right is a variation of the punch I just described. Essentially, this is a straight right thrown with your right elbow coming up a little bit. Overhand rights are most effective when thrown over the top of an opponent's lazy left hand. Do not get into a habit of throwing more overhand rights than straight right hands. As you can see when you throw an overhand right, the entire right side of your body is left unprotected. Avoid throwing right hooks if you are an orthodox fighter. They leave you extremely vulnerable to punches. If you are going to throw one, only throw it from the inside. As when throwing any punch, immediately bring your right hand back after throwing it.

Throwing a left hook the proper way is one of the hardest things for a beginning fighter to do. It is not a natural motion that we use in every day life. Unlike the jab and the right hand, which are similar to grabbing something, the left hook is unlike any motion we make in our everyday lives. For this reason, it is probably the hardest punch to throw. But be patient with it, because a properly thrown left hook is one of the most lethal punches in a boxers arsenal. Like the right hand, you want to remember to use your entire body when throwing it, from your shoulders and hands down to your feet. I'm going to use a persons feet as the starting point of throwing a left hook. Remember that all of the motions I am about to describe come simultaneously. Turn your left foot inward, while throwing your hook. You don't have to turn it much, but that little inward movement of your feet adds to the power of your hook. I am now going to move up to your hips. Turn your left hip inward in the same motion as you turn your foot. Using your hips when throwing a left hook multiplies the power of a hook ten fold. I am now going to move to your shoulder. Again, turn this, the same way that you turned your hip and foot. Realize that you haven't used your hand in any of these motions yet. Practice turning your left foot, hip and shoulder inward at the same moment. Now, we are going to put the final piece on throwing a good left hook into the puzzle. Your left hand should come across your body, stopping at the middle of your opponent. Your elbow should not come up too much. I see a lot of people over exaggerating how much the left elbow should come up. Your elbow and your fist should not be parallel. For one, it leaves your body open to right hands when you do this. The second reason is it makes you vulnerable to a simple push on your left elbow that leaves you off balance. The reason you don't follow through with a left hook is because if you follow through and miss, you're very off balance, and balance is the key to boxing. It keeps you from being hit, and it has you in a position to hit. It is nice to finish every combination that you can with a left hook, because it brings your body back into position.

Subject: RE: INFOFrom: boxingSHK Date: 03-Oct-00 | 09:53 AMUPPERCUTS

Uppercuts are the only punch that it's safe to throw with either hand. But, that is only if you are throwing them from the inside. An uppercut thrown from the outside is very bad mistake to make. It leaves you vulnerable to numerous counters. I cannot stress enough that if you are going to throw an uppercut, throw it from the inside! Like the other punches, you don't only use your arm when throwing an uppercut. The power from an uppercut comes from the lifting motion, and you lift with your legs. You use very little arm movement. Bringing your hand back to throw and uppercut leaves you very vulnerable. So remember to use your legs to get the desired power. Uppercuts can be very dangerous, because they are hard to see coming if you throw them right. If your opponent has his head down, looking at your feet, an uppercut is a very effective punch. Following a right uppercut with a left hook is one of the best combinations you can throw.

There is nothing that slows down your opponent quicker than a well placed bodypunch. There are some fighters that you can hit in the head all day and no punch you throw will hurt them, but move your attack downward, and start working on their body, and your bound to start hurting even the toughest guy. If you jab to your opponent's body, you must be very, very careful that you bring your left hand back immediately! It's not a punch I recommend you throw too often. It leaves you very, very vulnerable to counter right hands. But it is a punch that isn't too difficult to land. Right hands to your opponents body need to be brought back immediately also, because if you don't bring them back, you're more than likely going to get hit with a left hook. A left hook to the body is one of the easiest ways to stop and opponent in his or her tracks. You can take a slight step to your left and let it fly, or you can dip inward, and throwing a short half jab/hook to the inside. Either way is very effective. A lot of the great Mexican fighters like to throw the hook from the outside to the liver. This is a very, very devastating shot. But, you can also get to your opponent's liver from the inside. So remember that you have more than one option when you want to get that punch in. You can throw uppercuts to the body also. Again, throw them only on the inside. Remember that you are not limited to only throwing punches to the head, and midsection. You can also throw punches to your opponent's shoulders, chest, arms, and neck. Sometimes when facing a good defensive fighter, you have very few options on where to hit him, so don't make it any harder than you have to, by ignoring areas that are legal to hit.

Throwing punches in combination is very important to a fighter wanting to become a complete fighter. One punch is easy to defend, but three or four thrown in a row can be next to impossible. The most basic combination to throw is the 1,2,3. Which is a jab, right hand, left hook. Notice when you throw this combination how smooth it feels, with your hips and body in a position to throw the next punch. Remember though, that the more punches you throw, the more likely you are to be in one spot and be vulnerable to getting hit. So throw your combinations and move. A good way to do this is to throw your 1,2,3 and then throw a jab moving to your left. Or two jabs moving to your left. So then, you are throwing a 1,2,3,1,1. The 1,2,3 hurts your opponent, while the two jabs get you out of his punching range, ready to attack him again. The combinations you can throw are endless. Double hooks, triple hooks. Throwing a jab, followed be a left uppercut, followed by a left hook. They can go from the simple, to the complex. But a good thing to remember is to follow every right hand with a left hook. When you throw a right hand, you're in a position to throw a hook afterwards, so you might as well do it. And throwing that hook at the end brings you back in your normal fighting position. Try it and you will see.

Boxers with bad defense usually have very short careers. The human brain is only made to take so much punishment. Eventually you will see a fighter who used to have a great chin, getting knocked out by punches that he would have laughed at years before. A chin is kind of like concrete. If you take a sledgehammer to the concrete it might not crack at first. But eventually it will crack and break and won't hold up. I'm not saying that a chin cracks or anything like that, but constant punches do eventually take their toll on the ability to take a punch. That is why it is so, so important to have a good defense. To defend a jab, you can either slip it or block it. When you block it, you're essentially catching it, and pushing it away with your right hand. It takes very little to push the jab out of the way, so just moving your hand two or three inches is suitable. When slipping a jab, you move your head to either side, just enough to make the punch miss you. Don't move any more than you have to. Blocking right hands aren't too hard to do. When I described the basic stance earlier, there was a reason for me telling you to keep your left hand out a little bit. The reason being is that when you block a right hand, you can stop it by simply dipping, and throwing a jab into your opponent's right shoulder. If your right hand is glued to your chin, you're probably going to have a hard time getting your left hand out there before his right hand gets to you. You don't have to really worry about right hooks from an orthodox fighter, which is why you can keep your left hand away from your face. Remember, I said away, but not down. Remember to dip when throwing the jab into your opponent's shoulder is so important. The little dip makes the right hand soar over the top of your head, even if your jab to the shoulder doesn't stop his right hand. You can slip a right hand to either side. Slipping inside makes it easier to counter in my opinion, but slipping to the outside makes it easy to throw the classic outside left hook to the body I described earlier. You don't really slip left hooks. You roll under them. When slipping you mostly move just your head, but when rolling under a punch, you use your legs, and go side to side in more of a bobbing motion. It's best to roll under a hook to the right. Because when you do, you make it very hard for him to follow up with anything. You're essentially out of the range of his right hand. You can also block a left hook. You do this by simply having your hand up by high on your head, and waiting for the hook, and having it hit your glove. Obviously rolling under the hook is much better. Because when you roll under the hook, your right hand should be up anyways meaning that you should block it if you can't quite get under it.

Avoid pulling backwards from punches. I know fighters like Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr. can get away with it, but let's face it. Neither you nor I have the physical skills they do. A normal fighter pulling away from a punch leaves him off balance, meaning he or she is susceptible to being knocked down, and not in a position to throw a counter. You can slip and uppercut to either side. Uppercuts can be thrown with either hand. I wouldn't concern myself with uppercuts thrown from outside. They are very easy to see, and even easier to counter. Uppercuts thrown on the inside are a different matter. They are dangerous, and you must be constantly aware of them. Avoid looking downward at all costs. About the time you realize you are doing it, your opponent will be throwing ferocious left hooks that you won't see until they're an inch from your nose. You can block uppercuts by bringing your arms in together almost like a wall. When your arms are in like this though, be aware that you can be hit with hooks to both the body and head. I described earlier how you keep your left hand out a little when you're on the outside to block right hands. When you're on the inside, bring that left hand in. Because as hard as it is to hit someone with a right hook as an orthodox fighter, it can be done on the inside. Remember to also drop down a little bit. This makes your body a smaller target and leaves you less likely to get hit by bodyshots. That leads me to blocking body punches. It is very, very hard to slip a bodypunch. I wouldn't recommend a beginning fighter even try it. Stick to blocking bodypunches with your elbows and arms. Avoid bringing your hands down to block a bodypunch. An experienced fighter will immediately throw a punch to the head when he sees you doing this. Having your elbows in tight and close to your body makes it much harder for you opponent to get bodypunches in.

If you are going to get hit with a shot, try to roll with it. By rolling with a punch, you take away the impact of it. Say for instance you're getting hit with a left hook, and there's nothing you can do about it. Try lessening the blow by not moving into it. Say for instance you're getting hit with a jab no matter what you do, let it hit you on top of your head instead of squarely in your face. Simply dip your head downward a little bit. A lot of times you're going to get hit with a shot no matter what, so do what you can to lessen the impact with which it hits you.

Now that I've gone over both basic defense and offense, I can go over counterpunching, which is putting the two of them together. A fighter who can counterpunch is probably the hardest opponent to face. He makes you cautious about what you throw, because you know he can make you pay. Most of your knockouts come from counterpunches. Very rarely do you see a fighter score a knockout off of the first punch of an exchange. Counterpunches are most effective when slipping or rolling under a punch, instead of blocking. But blocking is usually the easier alternative. You can counter lazy jabs with right hands over the top. An overhand right is a good punch to throw over a lazy jab. You can counter right hands with left hooks, etc. The opportunities to counter are pretty much endless. It would take me days and days to go over all of the different ways to counter certain punches. Just remember that if you can counter your opponents punch, you're twice as dangerous than if you couldn't. Because instead of having to create an opening yourself, he's doing it for you.

A lot of fighters make footwork much more confusing than they should. Some try to be fancy. Don't do that. Keep it simple. If you want to move to your left, move your left foot first. If you want to move to your right, move your right foot first. Essentially move whatever foot is closest to the direction you want to move. Avoid getting your feet tangled up or close together, because you are very susceptible to a knockdown. Try to avoid long, lunging steps. Short, quick ones are much more conducive to keeping good balance. Avoid bouncing. Instead try to glide. You will find out that it takes much less effort and makes it easier to keep good balance. Good exercises to do when wanting to improve footspeed are jumping rope and shadowboxing. Most people neglect to concentrate on their footwork when shadowboxing, but you will be amazed at how quickly it will improve when you just concentrate on it.

Subject: RE: INFOFrom: boxingSHK Date: 03-Oct-00 | 10:00 AMCLINCHING

When all else fails and you're getting hit, one alternative you have is to grab your opponent. But don't just grab him any old way, because if you grab him the wrong way, both or one of your hands could be tied up while he had one or both of his free to punch you. The best way to clinch is to tie your opponents arms up from the outside, under his armpits, then closing in and holding tight. This keeps him from being able to use his arms at all. It makes it virtually impossible for him to get his arms free, and it gives you an opportunity to rest. Don't just stay there though. Turn him and move him around. Spin him or her right, spin them left. If you've got one hand free, spinning them while punching with that free hand is a very good tactic.

Having your back to the ropes is not the best position to be in. For one, it limits your range of movement. Another reason is that it looks bad with the judges. So if you have your back to the ropes, there are a few ways of getting away. You can clinch like I described earlier. Remember to spin your opponent when you do this. Hopefully you can put his back to the ropes. You can also try to move off the ropes. This is very hard to do without throwing a punch. If you try to just move, you're more than likely going to get hit. But try throwing a punch while moving, and that's a different story. Doubling or tripling up on your left hook while moving to your left is a good way to spin your opponent around and get off the ropes, while putting his back to the ropes.

When faced with an opponent who can move, you could be forced to cut him off. If your opponent moves to his left, you move to your right, and throw a right hand. If he moves to his right, you move to your left, and throw a left hook. If he moves straight back, you go forward. And throw punches while moving forward. Essentially what will usually happen, is you will throw a right hand, and your opponent will try to get away from it by moving to his right, immediately throw a left hook, which your opponent will try get away from by moving to his left. It goes back and forth, but in doing so; you control where your opponent moves. When you've got your opponent to the ropes, you do the same thing, to keep him there, throw a left hook, forcing him to move to his left, immediately fire a right hand, forcing him to move to his right. You are pretty much keeping him right in front of you by doing this. Remember to step to whatever side he is stepping to, to block him. Julio Cesar Chavez in his prime was an absolute master at cutting off the ring.

There are all kinds of dirty tricks that a fighter can use. The key is if you use them, to not get caught. And I'm not recommending any of these. Let's just say that I'm telling you, so you'll know what to expect. Stepping on your opponent's feet and punching while they can't move is a tactic. Twisting arms while in clinches is also a tactic. Using the laces of your glove on an opponent are another. This isn't quite as common as it used to be. Same with using your thumbs. Gloves are designed differently now, so this has been reduced quite a bit also. There's also hitting in spots that aren't legal in boxing ring. Behind the head, below the belt, the kidneys, etc. Of course you have also got the head butts and the elbows. All perfectly legal and devastating in the street, but not something I would recommend in the boxing ring.

A key to being able to finish a fight is being able to expend your energy wisely. If you've only got a weeks worth of food, and can't get anymore, you don’t want to have a feast at the beginning of the week using half the food do you? It's the same way in the boxing ring. Don't go out there the first round and use up all of your energy. Stay relaxed and calm. If you know without a doubt that you can take your opponent out in the first round, by all means try to do it. But stay relaxed and calm while doing it. Staying relaxed conserves energy more than you can imagine. Try running a mile, then sprinting one hundred yards, then running a half a mile. Now run a mile and a half straight, with no one hundred-yard sprint. You will be shocked at how much harder you were breathing at the end of the mile and half-run with the sprint than you were with the one without the sprint. So remember that when you make that sprint, choose it at the right time. Sprinting to soon can much it a lot harder to finish the race if you understand the analogy. Knowing when to clinch is also a big key to finishing a fight. Obviously you can't do it too often or you'll get points taken away, but doing it at the right times can frustrate your opponent. Throwing combinations and moving out of the way is also essential. Throwing four punches and moving while getting hit with none in return, is better than throwing six and getting hit with three. Patience is the key. Even when trying for a knockout. You hear fighters talk all the time about when they are not trying for a knockout it comes. They are setting it up. The big difference between a four round fighter and a ten round fighter is patience and knowing how to make themselves go the distance if needed.

One of the best tactics to use when fighting a southpaw is keeping your left foot outside of his right foot. By doing this, you take away his ability to throw a left hook, and if he does it to you, he takes away your hook. You can also give his right shoulder a slight push when your foot is outside, which usually puts him off balance. So moving to your left and keeping your foot outside of his is the best thing to do. This is a very easy tactic to use against a right handed fighter that is fighting as a southpaw, because you are essentially taking away his strong hand by keeping your left foot outside his right. Left hooks are effective punches against southpaws, because most of the time they are moving to their right. Sometimes fighting a southpaw is easier than fighting an orthodox fighter, but other times it can be an absolute headache, if the southpaw is skilled. You have to beware of his straight left, and his right jab and hooks. Knocking down a southpaw's right jab with your left hand is effective, but beware of him hooking off his jab. So have the left hand ready to block a right hook afterwards. Block his straight lefts in the same way you block a left jab, by knocking it down with your right hand. It's difficult at times, but the best way to get used to it, is by sparring with as many southpaws as possible. Practice makes perfect.

If you're not in condition, you are less than half the fighter you could be. When you are out of shape, you always question how much longer it is going to be, before you wear out. And trust me, it probably won't be long. For boxing you need to be conditioned like almost no other sport. You need to be conditioned like a long distance runner, who needs to sprint at a moment's notice. You need strength, speed, endurance and technique. Endurance and technique are the two of these that you can improve most through training. Some guys like Roy Jones Jr. are born with fast hands. Others, like Earnie Shavers are born with the ability to hit hard. But don't be fooled into thinking that they didn't work to improve on what they were born with. You may not have been born with handspeed like Jones Jr. or punching power like Shavers, but that doesn't mean that you can't work hard to maximize what you were born with. Good drills and exercises for improving handspeed are shadowboxing, hitting the speed bag, and hitting the double end bag. Good drills for improving punching power are hitting the heavybag and lifting weights. Remember that when lifting weights, to work out the muscles that are helpful to you as a boxer. Working out some muscles is actually probably detrimental. Having strong triceps is a key to punching hard, and does not inhibit your range of motion, but having huge biceps relate very little to how hard you can hit. It actually may inhibit your ability to throw certain punches, like throwing a left jab, left uppercut, left hook. Having bulky muscles can wear you down also. Remember that you want to be like the long distance runner who needs to be a world class sprinter at any time. Remember to always stretch when lifting weights, and to choose the exercises you do wisely. Don't forget to work on exercises that strengthen your neck. Chopping wood is also a great exercise for developing punching power. I know most of us aren't able to chop wood, because of where we live, but thinking about the muscles you use to throw a right hand. Now think about the muscles you use to chop wood. They're pretty much the same muscles. I would also look into studying pylometrics. Pylometric exercises are great for improving both handspeed, and punching power. But remember good technique is something that makes a man hit twice as hard, so don't neglect that. For endurance, running, sprints and long distance are great. Swimming is also a very good exercise. I'm not going to go into this too much, because there are endless sources of learning about conditioning.

The following are some requested tips that will help you improve your fighting ability. They are truisms that, in my own experience, are universal to fighting in general. I have been boxing since the early 1980's, and have taught and trained continuously since then. I must be in a giving mood to hand this over like I am, but here goes.

We'll start with some basics, and move into some more involved material as we go. I will inevitably skip some things, since I'm just rattling these off the top of my head.

Learn to become really comfortable standing just out of his reach. Develop the sensitivity to gauge people's reach, and allow them to just barely miss. This will give you two valuable things: The ability to not freak out because things are flying at your face and barely missing, and the posture and positioning to hit him with little adjustment.

In other words, your defense has to facilitate your offense. Everything "defensive" is really a matter of doing AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE to make him miss while not messing up your alignment to hit him back. This is why multi-step blocking and highly eccentric movements (literally, "far from center") are not practiced in boxing.

- Never, ever, ever -

. . . take your eyes off of your opponent.

- Let it go by -

Don't always try to stay out of his reach, or you'll always find him out of your reach. Train your slip and bob to stay in range and let the punch go right by so you're still in range to deal it out. Don't weave too much.

- Everything serves your ends -

Like Musashi says, "Do nothing that is without a reason". Beware of gratuitous and wasteful motions that don't serve any purpose. For example, jab when you slip his jab. Cross when you slip his cross. Etc. Don't let him become comfortable, or secure in the knowledge that you're going to stand there while he does what he wants.

The thing that weakens an opponent's offense is your own offense. Everything else (e.g. slipping without countering, blocking as an isolated movement) is just prolonging the inevitable.

- Read the hips -

Learn to read his hips. Whenever a hip comes toward you, that is advance notice that something is coming from that side. Some also telegraph with their shoulders, but this is overt and amateurish -- i.e. wouldn't expect a good fighter to do it. Try to read his loading up in the hips, too.

To me, the art of boxing is founded on the jab. If you've got a jab, you can box. If you don't, then boxing is hard. Simple as that. Without the jab, expect to get hit a lot. The jab helps to make you a good boxer. Without one, you're just a puncher (which can also be effective, but requires specialized attributes to pull it off).

- The Can Opener, and the Spoon -

There's a saying in boxing that your jab is a can opener, and your cross is a spoon. The opponent is a can of meat. You've got to use your can opener to open the can BEFORE you can use your spoon to dig out the meat. If you try to use your spoon first, you'll generally fail. Even if you like to lead off with a cross (not usually advisable, unless you're Roy Jones, Ali, or a pissed off Jack Johnson), it is advisable that you at least feint a jab to conceal the load-up of your rear shoulder for the cross.

- The Hook -- "Crushing Peanuts, and Come Here" -

Two things to remember in throwing your hook. Lead foot rotates on the ball like you're crushing peanuts. Lead arm hooks horizontally and tight, like you're grabbing one of your friends around the neck with your arm and saying, "Come here!" (the noogie position).

Also regarding the hook, THERE IS NO WRIST. Your wrist does not exist. You can use horizontal or vertical fist -- matter of what range you're hooking at.

- Balls of the feet are the gas, heels are the brakes -

Rule of thumb for mobility and planting.

- Christmas -

Better to give, than to receive.

- Speed -

Speed is very important. But quickness and suddenness are even more important. Don't build up in speed. If you do, you will tend to miss against a person with movement, even though your punches are fast at full extension. This is because there is a discernible buildup in your acceleration. Relaxation is important for speed. Don't tighten your fist up until you're almost fully extended.

- Shoe in the Bucket -

This is a common mistake in martial arts that you will really pay for when full contact is happening. It describes a failure to shift the weight off of one foot and onto the other when throwing a power punch. Classic example is in the cross -- at full extension, your rear foot is on the ball, allowing the weight to shift and that hip to come forward. This contradicts the planted rear foot of many traditional martial arts in their "reverse punch" -- what in boxing we call shoe in the bucket.

- Barrel of a gun -

Look down your punching arm like you're looking down the barrel of a gun. This will help that arm to provide cover for your chin on that side while you're punching. Common mistake is for people to leave their chin open on the side of the arm they are punching with. Depending on your personal style, it can also help to turn your thumbs downward to help bring the shoulders up and provide better cover.

Your arms are like two soldiers guarding a fort. When one of them leaves the fort to make war, he has to build a wall to protect his post while he's gone. Also, in keeping with this analogy the other soldier at such times is extra vigilant.

- Where there's weight, there's power -

Proper loading is essential for power punching. But, do not telegraph. Conceal the shift of weight in your combinations.

- Hourglass stance -

This is a dangerous but necessary position in hitting. It happens at the tail end of your cross. Be ready to duck and cover. Your cross will put you in a bob position. You should be ready to stay low and elbow block, weave under, or jab to correct your posture. DO NOT just stand there fully extended with nowhere to go.

In your stancing and movement, do not put more than 60 percent of your weight on either foot *except in brief extreme situations*. i.e. In the course of regular movement stand in balance. One-legged stances, stilted and straight knee stances, overextended forward stances, etc., are a big mistake both offensively and defensively.

- Dancing -

Don't dance around, or bounce up and down. Quick, short, even-keeled adjustments are what you want. Stay mobile, but don't waste any motion. In keeping with the gas and brakes analogy above, stay on the balls for quick range adjustment, but SETTLE IN on your punches. You get your punching power from the ground, through the legs, and off the hips.

- The generator -

This is a principle I teach my students. Everything you do needs to derive power from somewhere. Your hips are your generator. Plug everything you do into your generator. Throwing punches without the hips is like fighting a duel with an unloaded gun. You might get the first shot off, but he'll be the one who really connects.

- Better to make him miss by an inch, than by a mile -

This relates to some other things I've already said. When you make him miss by a mile, you'll often find yourself too far out of alignment to fire back. Make him miss by an inch, and it's as if he's not punching you at all -- as far as your ability to counterpunch is concerned.

- Head at the level of your punch -

You have to drop your head to the level of your target. THIS INCLUDES BODY SHOTS. Not to do this is to get hit. Some say you should put your eyes at the level of where you're punching, some say the chin or shoulders. I usually put my eyes at the target level.

- Punching Power -

The power of your punch is on the very end of it. This is one way in which boxing/fighting is a range game. You've got to find your distance, in order to tee off. The real art comes in catching him at the right time and place when your punch is at its max. It's like catching a train. You've got to coordinate things, so that both you AND the train are at the station if you're going to catch the train. Both of you are on the move, though, and this takes timing.

- When to catch him -

Often, an opponent is ready to move once off of your first attack to make you miss. But, usually after this first movement he has nowhere to go unless he's pretty good. Often you can catch him flatfooted at this time, if you're ready to follow up and keep gaining range. Most common of all is simply leaning away from your initial attack. If you're ready to follow up from that, you can usually catch most people (unless your opponent is Chris Byrd).

Musashi once said something related to this: Throw something up at his face, and you'll see his reaction. Then you can know exactly what to do, since he has tipped his hand, and show his intention. Example: You throw a threatening jab (good safe angle, well-covered, but believable) and he reacts by moving slightly back away. This tells you to do the same thing, but follow with an overhand to catch him -- because you know where his head is going to be after the jab.

- The chin -

The chin is the magic button. Tuck yours, exploit his. Some people look really tough, but they go down from a tap on the chin. Whereas, trying to knock a guy out by punching his skull can take a while, unless you hit really hard. Head's like a helmet. Not a good target, unless you can already break patio blocks with your fists. I've knocked people out by punching their skull without hurting my hands, but it takes a while to get your fists tough enough for it.

- Jab like a fencer -

Jabbing is a game of controlled lunging in coordinated footwork to achieve the right range for other things. Some people use the jab in a light way, like a fly swatter. I like to use it light, but also as a heavier punch as well -- a dichotomy which comes from originally learning to box at 175 lbs., but finding myself now at a trim 215-220 lbs. with enough speed AND weight to use it both ways.

- Sparring -

The quality of your sparring partners will influence your skill level. Highly skilled fighters do not need to go full contact all the time to get a lot from the exchange. Besides, if you're a heavyweight like me, here's an important stat for you: 87% of all heavyweight pros suffer from permanent brain damage as a result of full contact sparring and fighting. No thanks. I want to be able to remember my wife's name when I'm 60.

Moreover, you can't explore new combinations and options if there's too big a price to pay. When somebody is out there trying to knock your block off all the time, you'll tend to fall back on just surviving instead of consciously enforcing actions that are intelligent if not yet reflexive.

- Shadowboxing -

You should shadowbox EVERY DAY. The most valuable training experiences for me have been those little 15 or 20 minute sessions where I shadowbox and play with different angles and combos. Keeps you sharp, too.

Rear UppercutLead overhandRear HookNow. When working the focus mitts, have the feeder call out combos by number:

"1,1" "1,1 while circling""1,2""1,2,3""1,3""1,2,5,4"

Etc.

The feeder should collide the mitts with your punches so that the mitts do not snap back, making it possible for him to stay with you on faster combinations, and to give you a satisfying impact when you punch.

Next, work into advancing combos where the feeder throws angles after your first one or two shots, you evade and continue with your counter.

"1,2,weave,2"

Etc.

Again, these are mostly BASICS. I've just skipped around a bit, in addition to avoiding kicking altogether which is a favorite area of mine. Maybe some other time. But what I've given here is based entirely on my experience, and it will help you if you apply it.

WoW! Thank you so much! This is the most concise explanation of technical boxing info i have ever seen. It is so helpful to see it all clearly summarized. I have been regularly practicing the key points since this was posted. BEST POST!

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